Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules
Wichita, KS (SportsNetwork.com) – Cleanthony Early led all scorers with 19 points to help No. 2 Wichita State complete a perfect regular season with a convincing 68-45 win over Missouri State in front of a sellout crowd at Koch Arena. The Shockers (31-0, 18-0 MVC) are just the third team since 1990-91 to enter their conference tournament undefeated. UNLV (1990-91) went on to win the National Championship and Saint Joseph’s (2003-04) lost in the Elite Eight. Early shot 5-of-7 from the floor, Ron Baker added 13 points on eight shots and Darius Carter went for 10 points and eight boards in a reserve role in the triumph. Fred VanVleet, named one of 10 Naismith Award semi- finalists earlier in the week, matched MSU’s assist total by himself with seven. Jarmar Gulley netted 15 points for Missouri State (19-11, 9-9), which led by 19 points and took Wichita State to overtime the last time the two teams met on Jan. 11. The Bears never led in this one.
Final Score: (21) Memphis 72, (7) Louisville 66
Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Chris Crawford highlighted a late Tigers run with a go-ahead 3-pointer as No. 21 Memphis rallied for a 72-66 victory over seventh-ranked Louisville in a wild American Athletic Conference clash at FedExForum. Louisville appeared poised to take sole possession of first place in the AAC, only to have Memphis end the game on a 15-1 flurry to earn a sweep of the season series. Michael Dixon Jr. scored a team-high 18 points off the bench, Geron Johnson chipped in with 15, Austin Nichols added 14 and Crawford had 12 for the Tigers (22-7, 11-5 AAC), who bounced back from a loss to Houston despite poor performances by their top two scorers. Montrezl Harrell led the Cardinals with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Russ Smith totaled 19 points, five boards and five assists while battling through foul trouble. Louisville (24-5, 13-3) had its seven-game winning streak snapped and still sits tied with Cincinnati atop the league standings.
Final Score: Connecticut 51, (11) Cincinnati 45
Hartford, CT (SportsNetwork.com) – Shabazz Napier scored a game-high 18 points and the Connecticut Huskies took down the cold-shooting 11th-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats 51-45 in an American Athletic Conference slugfest. The Bearcats were abysmal on the offensive end, managing just four points in the first 12 minutes of the second half and shooting an ugly 27.1 percent from the floor in suffering through a second straight loss. The Huskies (23-6, 11-5 AAC) did not shoot much better, but they made up for their mediocre 31.3 percent shooting effort by forcing 20 turnovers. Napier also pulled down 11 rebounds, while Lasan Kromah added nine points for UConn, which has gone 6-1 since losing at Cincinnati last month. Sean Kilpatrick paced the Bearcats (24-5, 13-3) with 16 points.
Final Score: (19) North Carolina 60, Virginia Tech 56
Blacksburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) – James Michael McAdoo had 15 points on 6- of-9 shooting in the 19th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels’ 60-56 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday. Leslie McDonald added 14 points for the Tar Heels (22-7, 12-4 ACC), who have won 11 in a row for the first time since the 2008-09 season. J.P. Tokoto tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Jarell Eddie ended with 18 points and seven boards for the Hokies (9-19, 2-14), who have lost four straight. Devin Wilson donated 15 points and seven assists.
Categorized in: NCAA Basketball